Kieran Trippier withdraws from England squad for personal reasons

19 November 2023 , 12:38

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Trippier won't make the trip to North Macedonia (Image: Kieran McManus/REX/Shutterstock)

Kieran Trippier has left the England camp due to a personal matter ahead of the Euro 2024 qualifier in North Macedonia.

Gareth Southgate ’s side secured progress to next summer’s finals with two games to spare and Friday’s forgettable 2-0 win against Malta all but assured their spot among the top seeds in the December 2 draw.

England end their Euro 2024 qualification campaign and 2023 fixture calendar in Skopje on Monday night, when they will be unable to call upon Newcastle full-back Trippier.

The England account on X, formerly known as Twitter, said: “@trippier2 has departed the #ThreeLions camp, owing to a personal matter and will not travel to North Macedonia.”

Southgate has already been dealing with a string of an absentees and Trippier’s departure meant just 22 players trained during England’s final session on Sunday before flying out to Macedonia.

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Southgate will be joined by Declan Rice at the press conference previewing the qualifier in Skopje.

Earlier this week Trippier had insisted that England will go to next summer’s Euros believing they can finally end 58 years of hurt.

Trippier won't fly out with the squad on Sunday (FRANKIE OKEEFFE/PPAUK/REX/Shutterstock)

The Newcastle full-back reckons the belief in Gareth Southgate’s squad has never been stronger - and that they will travel to Germany confident that they can lift the country’s first major international trophy since 1966.

Trippier was part of the England team that reached the final of Euro 2022 only to suffer heartbreak against Italy in a penalty shoot-out. And he scored a spectacular free-kick to put Southgate’s team ahead in the 2018 World Cup semi-final before Croatia’s late comeback saw them prevail after extra-time in Moscow.

But Trippier said: “We have huge belief as a squad and we talk about it a lot. Just look at our squad - we've got a fantastic group mixed with youth and experience.

“We've taken huge steps since Gareth came in, a semi-final, final and then obviously a quarter-final in Qatar as well. We've got a great feeling about next summer. When we go to the Euros the mindset will be to win it. We can't guarantee anything, but all we can do is make the fans aware that we want to win every single game.

"We will give our best as always and hopefully the support in Germany can be as good as it has been for many years. The support we've had, certainly since I've been playing for England, has been incredible.

"All we can do is perform on the pitch and make more memories with them. It's just about taking that other final step now.”

Simon Mullock